


great and precious things

by Scrivoio



Series: east of eden [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Superman (Comics), Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Depression, Loneliness, M/M, Mental Instability, References to Depression, because he's clark kent, but he doesn't say anything to him because of course he doesn't, clark kind of finds out that bruce is batman, like i literally wrote it during my break at work lmao, oscar wilde hehe, promise the other works in the series will b better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:15:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27384799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scrivoio/pseuds/Scrivoio
Summary: 'Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth,' Clark thinks to himself.(Clark’s never cared much for Oscar Wilde, but maybe this time he can make an exception. Maybe Bruce really is his most honest self when he’s hiding behind that cowl.)
Relationships: Batman/Superman, Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne
Series: east of eden [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2000494
Comments: 5
Kudos: 53





	great and precious things

**Author's Note:**

> “I believe that all great and precious things are lonely.”

There’s something about Bruce, some melancholic quality that’s so intrinsic to him that Clark’s never questioned it. It’s hidden, under a thick skin, a stoic expression, and an unshakable moral code. Under layers and layers of scar tissue, overlapping until there’s no more baby-soft, unmarred, _delicate_ skin left. 

Clark’s always been a reasonably adaptable man, but he also tends to see things in black-and-white terms. His beliefs are, to him, truths. Any assumptions about Bruce become opinions that shape his view of the man, unchallenged as long as they remain unvoiced. 

(Clark’s always assumed that Bruce was born serious and unyielding and emotionally unavailable.) 

(Clark learns, over time, that he’s wrong.)

Clark is a _reporter_. It’s his job to be right, always. But he’s also a person, and no person is infallible. The important thing is that Clark always finds the truth eventually. 

Clark sees that maybe these things aren’t intrinsic to Bruce. His friend wasn’t _born_ with these scars, Clark realizes. Rather, they were acquired, over time, through a series of crucibles that Clark can’t even begin to comprehend. 

This realization isn’t sudden. It’s not gradual, either, though. It’s more like a domino effect: it’s a series of events, of epiphanies, that happen quickly and in rapid sequence. Getting from Point A to Point B takes a while, but everything in between seems to happen so fast it makes Clark’s head spin. 

As Clark and Bruce grow closer, Clark begins to notice small things. He notices the way Bruce’s mouth is always turned down at the corners, the way his eyes are always a little bit hollow, the way his eyebrows are always furrowed in the middle of his forehead. He notices the Robin suit enshrined in the Batcave. He sees the way Bruce still visits Jason’s grave sometimes. 

Clark sees the walls Batman builds around himself. 

Even as the Justice League begins to take shape, as everyone begins to trust each other more, Bruce never lowers those walls a single inch. He stays distant at meetings, never straying from the topic at hand, always businesslike and professional. Cold. Distant. _Protecting himself._

Most of the Justice League doesn’t know who Batman is beneath the cowl. In fact, it’s probably only Clark who really knows that Batman is Bruce Wayne. 

(Or, rather, that Bruce Wayne is Batman. That’s how it seems, sometimes, to Clark. He knows Bruce and Batman, and of the two, Bruce seems less real. Sometimes it makes Clark wonder if Bruce isn’t actually the secret identity, if Batman is the man and Bruce Wayne is the character he chooses to play sometimes.)

It’s Bruce’s heartbeat that gives him away. 

Everyone has similar heartbeats, all in rhythm, but they’re all a little bit different. Unique. 

(Clark never says anything, and Bruce never asks, but Clark has a feeling that Bruce knows what he knows.)

Once Clark makes the connection, he struggles to understand how Brucie Wayne, filthy rich playboy— could possibly be Batman. It makes Clark second-guess every encounter he’s ever had with Bruce, wonder how much of _that_ is a lie. 

_Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth_ , Clark thinks to himself. 

(Clark’s never cared much for Oscar Wilde, but maybe this time he can make an exception. Maybe Bruce really is his most honest self when he’s hiding behind that cowl.) 

Clark notices how sad Bruce looks when he thinks no one is watching. 

Bruce is _lonely,_ Clark realizes. He’s the most feared man in Gotham— one of the most feared men in the entire world— and he’s _lonely_. He’s lonely in an aching, hollow way that Clark only understands because he’s been there. 

(Sometimes, that loneliness feels less like a thing of the past and more like a reality of the present. On those days, Clark doesn’t leave his apartment. He stays in bed, with the curtains drawn, closing himself up in a hermetically sealed chamber of darkness.)

(He wonders if that’s how Bruce feels about the Batcave, sometimes.)

**Author's Note:**

> comments are always appreciated :)


End file.
